Disney Marathon Weekend Recap Part 1 (10k)

So, I’m back to reality after a week at Disney.

Spoiler alert: I did finish both the 10k and the marathon.  No new PRs for me, but that’s okay.

I woke up last Tuesday morning and it was 4 degrees out.  4 degrees.  That shouldn’t even be a real temperature.  So even though it was only in the 40’s in Florida, it was still going to be a heat wave for me.  I was worried my car might not want to start in the cold, so I was ready to go very early.  Thankfully, my 9.5 year old car has been well maintained, and with a new-ish battery and a full tank of gas, started right up.  So I ended up at the airport well over two hours early.  Better early than running late.

Got to Disney with little trouble and headed to the parks with my sister Caitlin.  Fun times had by all.  Got back to the room and… no luggage.  (For those of you not familiar with Disney Magical Express, it’s awesome.  You pre-tag your luggage and then don’t have to worry about it.  It just magically appears in your hotel room.  Usually.)

So I called bell services and they had no record of my bag.  Uh oh.  But because of all the storms, if the Disney tag fell off of the bag, it was probably now sitting in a giant pile of unclaimed luggage.  The fact that my bag is bright orange works in my favor, but they would have to hunt it down, and I wasn’t getting it that night.

Thus, my first souvenirs were purchased: Mickey undies, Mickey socks, and Mickey PJ shorts.  And a toothbrush and deodorant, but those didn’t have Mickey on them.

Thankfully, I had all of my race stuff in my carry-on save for gels and throwaway clothes, but I have wonderful friends who were going to make sure I had everything I needed.  I also am a terrible packer, so in my carry on, I had an extra running skirt and two extra tech shirts.  Clothes for the next few days!  Hooray!

Hit up the expo and it was not as painful as I feared it would be.  Picked up some gels, just in case.  And miracle of miracles, by Wednesday night, my luggage had arrived.  Somehow, even though I was at the airport more than 2 hours early, my bag never got on the plane in Baltimore, and then appears to have gone to three more airports before finally making it to Orlando.  But once it did, Magical Express snagged it, and I had clothes.  So many clothes. It was much more exciting than it should have been.

Fast forward a bit and it’s 10k race day.  And my birthday!  So of course, I wore the birthday hat.  We weren’t sure what to expect, so we got to the start early, like we do for longer races.  Turns out that was pretty unnecessary.  We could see the start from the family reunion area – no need to be there early for the crazy walk to the corrals.

The 10k itself was… well, it was crowded.  Lots of people, lots of jostling, not a lot of actual running.  It would be nice to see another corral or two (I believe there were 5 for the 10k).  First half was streets, second half was parks.  But it was fun to be out there and see all the crazy costumes and chat with all the crazy Dopey folks.  I still don’t know how they got up that early 4 days in a row.

So I finished and enjoyed the race, and got my inaugural medal (fun fact – inaugural was misspelled on our bibs).  And then it was off to wander the parks in preparation for a pre-marathon rest day.  And enjoy my birthday, of course.